Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-12-30
rotc,s of wbale nIubber.

Il have one wife, my brother has
two, and my father has four" said a
quaint-lookiDg little man with almond
eyes and an Y in India ink on each
cheek yesterday to San Francisco E,C-
amincr man. The speaker was Dom
Koch, and with him was Tommy or
| Naghsook, both EsqumauX, who
arrived here n fortnight ago on
the whaler Reindeer. Their home
is among the Siberian steppes, within
/ the Arctic circle, in GGl north latitude
and 10 west longitude. Here, born and
bred in snow house, in land where
the sun never sets in summer, they had
remained, as had their ancestors for
( thousands of years. and never dreamed
Of another country until, when their lit
tie skin boat was blown far out to sea-
they weretaken aboard the Reindeer.
II expect ml wife will be gone when
/ get back, " said the funny little man
who first spoke, and who talked English
remarkably well. "Some other man
will probably have her, but then III
get me another one. Up there if mans
70 fishing, come back and find wi!es
gone, lie don'tworry. He goes and gets
some more.
Tommy listened to this speech rather
demurclv "Tommy is homesick, said
Dom Koch. " He wants to get back
again. He has two pretty wives and
three ugly ones. like California very
well. It's nice and warm down here,
and when 90 back next year I'm going
to bring my three sisters and come down
here to live"
These queer people," said J. c.
Greene, Of No. 22l Montgomery street,
who was with them, aud who was wreck
ed off Behring's straits, Siberia, In 1881,
edo not hold the ties of marriage very
sacred. Another thing, they do not
punish for murder. Murder, however,
is rare. There are probably 10000 or
1900 EsquimauX within radius of 300
miles of where ] was wrecked and where
Dom and Tommy are from, and these
speak twenty-five or thirty different dia-
lects. You may be able to understand
one dialect and be completely knocked
ont by another. The people live III ice
houses, 900 or 400 in a village, back a
little way from the water.
"They are very supcrsutlOus people,
too. When the w. /. Marsh went 10
pieces and we were cast away we fell in
with the simple Esquinaux and got
a couple to guide Us to distant st.
Michael 5. 1t Was the latter part OF Au-
gust, and we were besct with such fear
full storms that We could make very little
progress. Our guides thought an evil
spirit was among us, and went to
work to get rid Of 1t. One OF thea
lay down on his right side, while
the other fastened rawhide string
around his neck, with a stick attached to
it, so it could be twisted tight. Pulling
at this he would raise and lower his
head, while both howled out their weird
chants 10 the gods After awhile they
changed of, and the Esquimaux who
had been down arose and became the
chief howler. He prayed to tie gods
for less wind, and the two then indulged
in the most hair-Iaising groans
and chattering and grinding OF
teeth. Finally one Of them piled
a big stone on his shoulder, and
whirling with it, uttered the most dole
ful sounds. Then the other Indian was
thrust up there the whirling and moan
ing and halooting going on as before.
How eithcrthe stone or the Indian stayed
there don't know, for neither was held,
but Just seemed to lay there. 1t was
some sort OF legerdemain. At length,
completely worn ont and exhausted,
they quit, and the wind going down
about that time, they thought they had
made a good job OF it, and we thanked
them and moved on"